Retail trade Swiss watch exports continue to fall in October
Swiss watch manufacturers exported less abroad in October 2025 compared to the same month last year.
20.11.2025, 08:35
SDA
The negative trend in the industry thus continued, after US President Donald Trump's tariff hammer had already hit watch manufacturers in the previous two months.
In October, Swiss watches worth CHF 2.24 billion were exported. This is a drop of 4.4 percent compared to the previous year, as reported by the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) and the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) on Thursday.
In September, watch exports fell by 3.1 percent, and in August they even plummeted by 16.5 percent. After ten months, the export volume is 1.6 percent lower at 21.2 billion Swiss francs. At the beginning of August, the Trump administration imposed a punitive tariff of 39% on the import of numerous Swiss goods. This is now to be reduced to 15 percent under the recently reached trade agreement.
USA suffers further setback
In the USA, business with Swiss watches continued to be dominated by customs policy in October. Exports to the industry's most important sales market slumped by 47%, having already fallen in the previous two months. In the months prior to the introduction of the punitive US tariffs, manufacturers had stocked up their warehouses and those of retailers in America out of concern about high tariffs.
In contrast, the recovering Chinese market provided support for the watch industry. Exports to China rose by 13% and more Swiss timepieces were also exported to Hong Kong (+2.4%) and Singapore (+6.6%).
Manufacturers in the United Arab Emirates (+40%) and France (+11%) recorded strong growth. However, watch exports to the important market of Japan (-5.6%) and the UK (-7.4%) fell.
Broken down by price category, expensive watches with an export value of over CHF 3,000 recorded a significant decline of 7.1%. In contrast, exports in the price segment of 500 to 3000 francs per piece (+9.4 percent) and in the cheapest segment of less than 200 francs (+8.3 percent) rose sharply.
